Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

I am currently taking a course in Hermeneutics - which is the interpretation of Scripture. One of my homework assignments last week was to read an article by Roy B. Zuck, "Application in Biblical Hermeneutics and Exposition." I was so encouraged and challenged at the same time.
What does the average believer do regularly regarding the Word of God? What do you do regularly regarding the Word of God? Are you daily or nearly daily reading Scripture? Are you meditating on what you have read? Are you studying the Word? Are you applying the truth you are learning?
What got me thinking about this were some of the statements by Zuck; "Neglecting to apply the Scriptures to their lives makes their study of God's Word incomplete and deficient."1 The study of the Scriptures and knowledge "does not in itself automatically guarantee spiritual development."2 "As Sterrett has well stated, "The Bible has spiritual dimensions that can be grasped only when the will responds to what God says, not simply when the mind analyzes the language."3 "They know more than they live and that borders on hypocrisy."4 "When believers posses the truth without letting the truth possess them, non-Christians question the authenticity and value of Christianity."5 "Without such a personal appropriation of the truth, the Christian life remains sterile and fruitless."6
It isn't simply the reading of the Word that changes us it is the application of the truth that fuels growth and maturation of the believer.
I have noticed that the times when I don't seem to be growing spiritually, I am also lacking in the application of truth in that area of my life.

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." James 1:22-25

It is not just getting into the Word, but also letting the Word get into you.

Diane
1 Zuck, Roy B. "Application in Biblical Hermeneutics and Exposition"
2 Zuck
3 Sterrett, T. N. How to Understand Your Bible,cited in Zuck
4 Zuck
5 Zuck
6 Zuck